Chapter Text
I don't care what consequence it brings
I have been a fool for lesser things
I want you so bad
I think you ought to know that
I intend to hold you for the longest time
Billy Joel “The Longest Time”
Where…?
“Are you Akira?”
She turned, a tall young man had spoken to her, whoever he was she didn’t know him; she turned and tried to make a run for it.
“Hold on! You’re Akira Ibe, right? Ibe’s niece?” The tall guy had grabbed her by the back of her shirt, she struggled a little, but stilled at his words. She looked at him with wary curiosity.
He smiled smugly. “I’m not Japanese.” He said, “I’m Chinese American. My name’s Sing, nice to meet you. I’m a friend of Eiji’s, okay? He got busy at work, so he asked if I could come pick you up.” He reached over and grabbed her bags, “This all your stuff?” He took her continued staring as a ‘yes.’ “Okay, let’s go.”
He seemed way too tall to be any kind of Asian, Akira thought, but she went with him reluctantly after he showed her that embarrassing picture from when she was younger. She remember Okumura-san from back then, the kind way he spoke to her, and the lonely look in his eyes at that time.
"What's wrong?" She had asked him.
He had smiled a little sadly. "There's someone who I care about that's far away right now."
Arriving at Okumura-san’s house Akira was immediately impressed by the apartment. It was neat and spacious; it reminded her of places you saw in Hollywood movies. Sing showed her around a little, and she noted the confidence with which he moved around the apartment, he knew where everything was, and clearly felt at home here.
Sing turned to the window at the sound of a car door closing; he walked over in three strides of his impossibly long legs. Akira was impressed as much as she was a little unnerved. Way too tall…
“Eiji’s back!” He called and waved her over.
Akira ran to the window. “Okumura-san!”
Okumura-san looked up and smiled, “Aki-chan?”
They greeted Okumura-san at the door as he entered, a beautiful golden retriever at his heels. Sing grinned and leaned down to pat the dog’s head.
“Welcome, Aki-chan,” Okumura-san said, smiling, he gestured to the dog. “This is Hachi.”
Akira stuck out her hand for the dog to smell, and then tentatively pat his head.
“Oh, aa, that’s a very…nice name.” She said politely.
Sing sniggered, “You mean boring?”
Okumura-san shook his head, but he was still smiling. “I think it’s lovely.”
Sing scoffed, “Oh, of course you would, considering who named him.”
Okumura-san ignored this comment and turned to Akira. “Want anything to eat or drink?”
“Water, please?”
They made their way to the kitchen Sing chatting happily as they went.
“So, how did it go?”
“Okay. It’s going to happen.” Okumura-san replied, pouring a glass of water for Akira and handing it to her with that kind smile of his. She took a moment to really look at him, his handsome face, the long dark hair pulled in a messy ponytail, and the soft brown eyes that crinkled affectionately when he looked at her. Akira felt her heart squeeze a little.
Sing pumped his fist, “That’s great!” He turned to Akira, “He’s going to have a show. In a really famous art gallery.”
Akira swallowed water a little too quickly, “Wow! That’s great!” She gasped.
Okumura-san laughed a little, and Sing patted her back. “Say, Aki-chan, I’m free tomorrow afternoon, is there anywhere you want to go or something you want to see?”
She considered, excited at the prospect. “Oh! How about the New York Public Library? I’d love to see that, it was in Ghost Busters.”
Okumura-san and Sing exchanged smiles that told Akira she was missing something.
He turned back to her, smiling a little differently, fond and like his mind was somewhere else. “I’d like that.”
They chatted a little, asking Akira about school, her family back in Japan, and if she had seen Okumura-san’s family recently. She had seen his sister a couple of days ago, she taught at a different high school, and Akira lamented the fact that Okumura-sensei couldn’t be her teacher.
Soon after Okumura-san set them all to the task of making dinner. He was a wonderful cook, and a patient teacher. Akira didn’t really have a knack for cooking, but Okumura-san instructed her with kind smiles and easy to follow directions. Sing teased her gently when she messed up, but Akira could tell he was just trying to make her laugh.
Okumura-san’s long hair kept falling into his eyes and Sing left for a moment, and came back with a clip that he handed him. It looked like a women’s hairclip, gold with a pink sakura flower on it, Okumura-san smiled down at it before he clipped his hair back, but didn’t comment on it. Akira had a growing suspicion.
Dinner was delicious. And, when they sat around to eat they started planning their outing the next day. Akira half listened until Sing said something that caught her attention.
“Okay, so we’ll meet there at about one? Do you think Ash will join us?”
Okumura-san chewed thoughtfully then shrugged. “It’s hard to say, hopefully, that would be nice.”
Sing rolled his eyes at the look on Okumura-san’s face, and Akira felt her heart squeeze again, a little painfully this time.
“Ugh, you guys are gross. Aren’t you too old to look like a school girl in love?” Sing complained, but Akira could tell he didn’t mean it, there was no bite in his words, and Okumura-san knew too, because he just laughed.
Akira felt her heart sink a little. Who was Ash?
When dinner was done they helped clean up. Then Okumura-san had to walk Hachi so he left Sing to show her to her room.
“Could you grab a towel for her from the closet upstairs? I forgot to put one in the bathroom down here.” Okumura-san asked as he put on his shoes.
“Sure thing.”
Akira grabbed her toiletries thinking about what she had heard earlier. Making up her mind she walked out of her room and waited for Sing to come back downstairs. She heard the faint sound of his footsteps. For such a big guy, he hardly made any noise when he moved around.
“Here you are, miss,” he said handing her the towel.
She took it, “Thank you.” Then squared her shoulders. “Who’s Ash?”
Sing looked a little surprised, and then he laughed. “Oh, didn’t anyone tell you?” Clearly he saw the look on her face because his expression softened. “Ash is the love of Eiji’s life. Probably one of the most beautiful people you’ll ever meet, blonde, green eyed.” Sing seemed almost apologetic as he added, “You should look somewhere else, kid, Eiji’s taken.”
Akira felt herself blush hard. She glared at him, “That’s not - ! I wasn’t - !” She sputtered indignantly.
Sing smiled sympathetically. “Alright, I didn’t mean to offend,” he put his hands up, placating. “Ash works at the library, maybe you’ll meet tomorrow.” He backed up a step, still smiling in that unnecessarily sympathetic way. “Have a good night, see ya in the morning.”
Akira watched him leave, lifted her chin, and went into the bathroom.
***
Ash walked in to his almost completely dark apartment, Eiji always left the light on for him at the entrance. Hachi lifted his head to look at Ash from his bed by the stairs, he blinked slowly and then laid his head back down. Ash smiled a little wryly, Ash may have found him and named him, but Hachi was clearly Eiji's dog. He let out a long sigh, glad to be back home after a long day. He took off his shoes and made his way to the kitchen. He washed his used containers, trying not to run too much water and make noise. Then he quietly made his way upstairs.
Opening the door to the bedroom he saw Eiji sitting up in bed, glasses on, book in hand, he was the picture of domesticity, and Ash’s heart beat in his chest. Eiji turned when Ash came into the room, he set the book down and smiled warmly.
“Tadaima,” Ash said.
“Okaeri.” Ash unbuttoned his shirt as he walked over to Eiji who tipped his head up automatically, anticipating the kiss that Ash gave him.
Ash pulled away and continued to undress. “Is she here?”
Eiji nodded, “She went to sleep a little while ago.” He smiled, “She’s still sweet like I remember, you’ll like her.”
Ash nodded, tossing his shirt into the laundry basket and walking into the en-suite bathroom. “Do you have any plans to show her the city yet?” He asked, coming back out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in hand.
“We were actually planning on going to your library tomorrow, she wants to see it.” Ash, who had begun to brush his teeth, raised his eyebrow in question.
“She says it’s in Ghostbusters.”
Ash made a noise and went back into the bathroom. He rinsed his mouth and called to Eiji, “What time?”
“Around one.” Eiji called back.
He considered. He could probably push his lunch back to that time; he’d have about an hour. He did have programs he had to run tomorrow, as well, and he wouldn’t be able to get out of that. He would probably only have that one hour to spare for them tomorrow. Maybe on Monday…
Ash finished washing up and getting ready for bed, when he came out from the bathroom, Eiji glanced up from his book and raised his eyebrows, smiling slowly. Ash smiled too.
“Aren’t you being a little presumptuous?” Ash said, walking around the bed to get in on the other side.
Eiji laughed a little, “Me? I’m not the one who’s naked.”
Ash put on a serious expression. “I’ll have you know, I sleep better like this, unimpeded, free.”
“Oh, of course. It must have just slipped my mind how fond you are of sleeping nude.”
Ash had settled into bed, the covers pulled up over his lap, he leaned in close to Eiji.
“Come here.”
Eiji laughed. This time the kiss was long and lingering, not the brief press of lips they were used to as a greeting or farewell; this was for the real pleasure of the kiss.
Eiji smiled and pulled back a little, “Now who’s being presumptuous?” He breathed.
Ash ran his fingers up the skin of Eiji’s back, “So, tell me to stop.”
“Never.”
Ash pushed him down. He carefully took off Eiji’s glasses and placed them on the bedside table. Eiji watched him with dark eyes that shone with so much love, even after all this time. His long dark hair was splayed out around his head on the pillow, Ash pressed himself firmly on top of Eiji, and watched his pupils dilate.
“We can’t make noise,” Eiji warned, Ash was already running his mouth along Eiji’s elegant neck.
“So be quiet then,” he said against Eiji’s skin, drawing away a second later to tug Eiji’s shirt off.
“Isn’t that my line?” Eiji retorted, helping Ash pull off his sleep shorts.
Ash raised his eyebrows, “I guess we’ll have to see, won’t we?”
***
Akira awoke groggy and a little disoriented. She rubbed at her eyes and remembered where she was. Glancing at the clock told her she was up too early, it was only five in the morning. She got up anyway to use the bathroom, leaving her room; she was immediately hit with the smell of coffee.
On her way back to her room from the washroom she heard voices coming from the kitchen. Thinking automatically of Okumura-san and Sing she wandered over. There was muffled laughter, unmistakably Okumura-san’s, but like she had never heard before.
Peaking around the corner into the kitchen she froze. There was Okumura-san, obviously smiling, and kissing a tall blonde man. Akira felt her heart pound and her face flood with heat. She watched, unable to look away as they drew apart.
The blonde man had his back to her, his arms wrapped around Okumura-san’s waist loosely, Okumura-san’s hands were in the man’s hair.
“What’s so funny, young man?” He had a lovely voice, warm and affectionate. “It’s hard to kiss you when you’re smiling like that.”
Eiji laughed again, lighter, happier than she had ever heard. He was practically glowing.
“Nothing, it’s just, I’m really happy.” Eiji smoothed back the man’s bangs, the gesture spoke volumes. “I love you.”
The man said something Akira couldn’t hear, and they kissed again.
She tore her eyes away and willed herself to move silently as she retreated back to her room. Akira sat on her bed and wiped a tear off her cheek.
The day was lovely. The sun was out, there was a light breeze that kept it from being overwhelmingly hot, and Akira had firmly pushed what she had seen from her mind. Sing was a goof for her amusement, though Akira realized he wasn’t actually that goofy with anyone else, and when he spoke to Okumura-san he often did so very intelligently. That guy was so weird; he was growing on her.
They arrived at the library and Akira forgot about her worries as she took in the majestic sight of the grand entrance. It really looked just like in the movies.
Okumura-san smiled at her, he had a camera with him, “Mind if I take a picture?”
She shook her head and she and Sing posed by the entrance.
Walking in she admired the grandeur, it was huge, Americans really did make everything so much bigger. She looked around in awe, she loved it, it was beautiful.
“Where’s Ash?”
“We’re supposed to meet by the entrance – oh!”
Akira turned to look where Okumura-san was pointing. Coming down the hallway was, in fact, one of the most beautiful people Akira had ever seen. Just as Sing had said, tall, blonde, and she couldn’t see from this distance, but probably green-eyed, and stunning. He wore a simple white dress shirt, and bottle green slim fit pants, he also had glasses that looked rather similar to Okumura-san’s. He took them off as he arrived.
“Hey,” he greeted Sing and they bumped fists. He turned to Okumura-san, they smiled at each other, and just that look was almost too intimate. “Eiji.”
“Ash,” Okumura-san replied. A second passed, and then he turned and gestured to Akira. “This is Ibe-san’s niece, Akira Ibe, Aki-chan, this is my partner, Ash.”
Partner.
Ash put out his hand; Akira hesitated and then shook it.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he said, in only lightly accented Japanese. Akira looked at him in surprise, did everyone here know Japanese? “I’m a friend of Ibe-san’s, he's a good man, and it’s a pleasure to meet his lovely niece. I hope you enjoy my library; I’m very fond of it myself. Is there anything in particular you’d like to see?”
Ash had moved to squat in front of her so they were at eye level. He really did have green eyes, like jade. He was unfairly good-looking.
“Do you have anything on photography?” She asked.
Ash grinned and it was charming. “Of course,” he stood up and motioned for her to follow, “right this way.”
Ash was intelligent, he was well spoken in both English and Japanese, he was attentive, and thoughtful, he seemed to have a knack for picking out books she would find interesting when prompted with the smallest detail.
“I’m a librarian, after all,” he had said.
He was winning her over, and what was worse was, he didn’t even really seem to be trying. Ash seemed genuine, his interest in her and what she liked came across as completely sincere, and despite her earlier jealousy, Akira liked him. She couldn’t help it.
You should look somewhere else, kid, Eiji’s taken.
That much was obvious. Ash and Okumura-san didn’t touch, but the way they stood next to each other already changed the quality of the air around them, there was a way they seemed to reorient themselves around each other. One of them shifted, and the other adjusted his position to accompany him. It was difficult to describe, but Akira understood that it spoke of years together, of something more she wasn’t seeing, something more than a simple romance. The way they looked at each other and smiled, Akira could tell they were in love, and their happiness was almost incandescent.
She felt her heart squeeze again and scolded herself. Any fancy she had taken with Okumura-san was hopeless; she needed to put those feelings behind her.
It took some work, but it was surprisingly easy to feel comfortable around Okumura-san and Ash. They were both kind and attentive, they never did anything that made her feel uneasy, and the constantly happy atmosphere they projected was contagious. Akira found herself making faces at them with Sing when they gave each other particularly fond looks, or said something just as sappy.
One instance found Ash shooting peas at Sing and then Akira from across the table after they made gagging noises. She was a little shocked at first, but Okumura-san was laughing, and Ash just smirked and raised his eyebrows in challenge. The brawl that ensued was a free for all that made a mess of the kitchen table and the dinner they had prepared. They had to have sandwiches after they were finished cleaning up. Akira had never laughed so hard before.
On the first day of Okumura-san’s show Akira was excited to attend. Ash had taken her shopping a couple days ago. He had helped her pick out a blouse with an embroidered dragon on the back and loose fitting pants that almost looked like a skirt when she stood still.
Sing was at their place, as always. Ash and Okumura-san seemed to treat him like a little brother, and Sing in turn treated Akira like a little sister. She would never admit it to him, but it was nice.
“Ready to roll, miss?” Sing asked. He looked pretty sharp, finally out of jeans and wearing dress pants, and a shirt that didn’t have anything written on it. “Hey, look at you,” Sing said sounding almost insultingly impressed, “I dig the shirt.”
Akira rolled her eyes, but she was pleased. They left for the gallery; Okumura-san would already be there.
It was a showing of a project Okumura-san had been working on; all the pictures were about New York. In an interview Okumura-san did he mentioned how strongly he felt about the city, which had given him so much, and Akira found herself nodding along. That was obvious too. The pictures were all taken with an affectionate lens; they could have only been taken by someone who was in love with the city.
Once the interview was over Okumura-san came over to speak with them.
Sing punched him in the shoulder, “Congrats, man.”
Okumura-san winced a little and rubbed his shoulder, he smiled a little wryly, “Thanks.”
“Where’s Ash?” Sing asked, “I haven’t seen him.”
Okumura-san shook his head, “Work.” He said simply.
Sing nodded, “He’s pretty dedicated, huh?”
Okumura-san didn’t say anything, just gestured for them to follow him around the gallery. They went from room to room, Okumura-san sometimes gave a brief description of what an image meant, or when, and how it was taken, sometimes he didn’t.
When he was pulled aside by another guest Akira turned to Sing. “What’s Ash doing? Why isn’t he here?” She demanded. It wasn’t like him to miss something like this.
Sing sighed a little. “He runs after school programs for at risk youth. Sometimes he’s at the library, or at community centres for hours after school ends. He’ll stay until the very last kid in the program heads out home, he never rushes them, so that means he stays late a lot.”
“Oh,” Akira said, not knowing what else to say.
Sing must have read her mind because he continued. “When Eiji met him, Ash himself was a troubled teen himself. Lived on the streets, got into all kinds of sh – stuff.” Akira raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. Sing continued. “There was…a lot of stuff that went down, and Ash really wants to help people who were like him. He wants to see them get out of that life, he does a lot of work in communities like that,” Sing looked away for a moment, like he was remembering, “it’s probably his way of making amends too.”
“Amends?” Akira asked.
Sing shook his head. “Anyway, he knows this is important to Eiji, but…” Sing shrugged eloquently.
Akira didn’t totally understand, but she accepted Sing’s explanation. Shortly after Okumura-san joined them again, and they continued their tour of the gallery. Arriving at the very back Akira was immediately arrested by the large photo that sat as the obvious centre of the collection. It was Ash. He was younger; maybe seventeen or eighteen, sitting at a window, the warm morning light softening his already beautiful features and making them otherworldly, luminous. This photo, like the others, was obviously taken with a loving eye. It felt intimate just to look at it, Okumura-san’s feelings on display.
Standing in front of it was a tall blonde man. He turned as they approached; he was holding roses. Okumura-san went right up to him; he accepted the flowers when Ash handed them to him.
“Congratulations on a beautiful show, Eiji.” Ash said, smiling, eyes soft with affection.
“Thank you,” Eiji said, and leaned up to kiss him.
Akira looked away and caught Sing’s eye. He was grinning and gestured for her to follow him out to another room.
When it was time to see her off everyone was there, even Ash, who had managed to get the day off. They went with her to the airport, helping her buy last minute souvenirs, and artfully stuffing them into her suitcase.
“Come back anytime,” Okumura-san said kindly.
“We’ll miss ya, kid.” Sing said, ruffling her hair affectionately. She glared at him, but he just laughed.
Ash knelt in front of her and handed her a book. “We’ll be waiting for when you come back.” He said simply. Akira nodded, she put out her hand, and Ash shook it.
She would definitely be back.